It all starts with a four-hour car ride that takes place between two rented vans. Every year, for about 60 years, this family has made the trip to Branson. Sophomore Parker Bruns and his family are headed on their annual summer trip fueled with traditions.

“Going to Silver Dollar City is probably one of my favorite things because it’s my one vacation of the year,” Parker said. “It’s like the only amusement park I go to. So, that one weekend of the year that I get to go, it’s nice to not be stuck in my house over the summer.”

Built on eight different traditions, this trip is a very important trip to the family. For a majority of Parker’s family, it’s the one trip that they get to go on in a year and a great way for everyone to get together. This trip is the oldest family tradition for the Bruns’ and was started by Parker’s great grandparents and great aunt and uncle.

“We’re just gonna play it by ear [this year] and see what happens, whether we go to Silver Dollar City or find a nature park or just hang out at the lodge, maybe rent a boat or something just, it’s still up in the air, we have a month to figure it out,” Parker’s mother Allison Bruns said.

This trip takes place on the first weekend of June and usually entails a stay at a winery, where the adults in the family taste the new wine and the entire family eats lunch at the picnic tables. After, they take a trip to Silver Dollar City, filled with many smaller traditions, and head to Table Rock’s many lakes where they go boating. To end the trip, they always try to find someplace new to visit on their way back.

“Actually spending time with my family [is my favorite part] since we’re always so busy and we don’t get to see each other very much anymore,” Allison said. “And it’s something I look forward to every year because it’s something I’ve done since I was little.

Parker and Allison both agree that their favorite part is being able to spend time with the family that they don’t get to see very often. That’s what they say this whole trip is about — family.

“I was absolutely thrilled when my grandmother gave me the news that we’d be going to Branson after a year-long wait,” Parker said. “I truly love my family and all the time I get to have with them.”